Oz regulator hauls Apple to court over iBricks

We have this too

Where I live, there is the Consumer Guarantees Act, which says something like, the warranty for any device lasts as long as the practical life of the device. (that's not quite right, but the idea is that the manufacturer can't limit warranty terms to artificial terms like one year).

In the real world of course, you have to take a day off work to go to the small claims court to get a default judgment, and who has time for that?

3rd Party Repairs

Apple's statement on"third-party repairs voided their warranties" is just plain black and white, when in reality it is gray.

The logical baseline should be that if you (the consumer or your request for a repairman who) did something that breaks the device, you void the warranties. If the repairman did a great job in the repair, then you should not be considered voiding the warranties.

In the error 53 case, the repairman, however, did break a part of the device by forgetting to keep the OEM home button after replacing the screen. So in terms of warranties, Apple's ground still stand.

but it doesn't help Apple's terrible approach in communicating with the media and the consumers in regarding with the error 53. They could have took a lot of other alternative approaches like stating it needs a repair and providing repair at a price, but no they have to be a jerk. No one will approve them being a jerk.

In the end they not only have to put effort to undo the problem, they also have to face bad publicity.

Sorry, but...

Anyone stupid enough to fall for Apple's rip-off technique deserves exactly what they get. For years now they've been peddling behind-the-curve hardware and charging premium prices for it, but of course the iFools (aided and abetted by a salivating press; every new bloody iPhone gets a free, prime-time advertising slot on the BBC News for example) just think Apple can do no wrong.

Just keep that particular sub-set of society safely away from me - a 'B' Ark springs to mind - and if Apple want to extract as much money as they can from these sheep and impose ridiculous restrictions on them, then fine by me!

A recent communication from Apple

A recent communication that I received from Apple about 2 months ago categorically states that third party components, and therefore third party repairs, do not exclude the device from warranty service.

There are exceptions, and those are where the third party repair has damaged the device, or the customer is claiming warranty for a failiure of a third party component. In both situations the device is still eligible for out of warranty repair (unless the damage is catastrophic). Also if a customer has had their iPhone screen replaced with a non Apple display and wishes to have an original display installed this can also be done OOW, and will restore the existing warranty.

There is also a further exception - a third party replaced main board will render the device totally and utterly unserviceable

I guess Apple was getting a pile of crap on this, so they backed down, albeit not publically.

Anon of course because I've just spilled the guts on a confidential communication.

Warranty =/= Consumer Law Guarantee

Apple, or any other manufacturer can say whatever they like about their warranty and impose any terms they want. However, here in Australia, we have the Consumer Law Guarantee which is entirely separate from any warranty offered by a manufacturer and cannot be excluded.

A company can refuse repair under their warranty, but if the product fails the consumer guarantee then the consumer is entitled to a remedy of repair/refund/replace regardless of warranty status. The choice of remedy is down to the consumer.

I always make sure I take a copy of this document with me whenever I need to dispute something with a retailer:

https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/electrical-whitegoods-an-industry-guide-to-the-australian-consumer-law

It is amazing how fast they change their tune when you show them you actually know what your consumer rights are.

Also, the fact that you are covered by the ACL guarantee makes most extended warrantys a complete waste of money. Very few offer anything extra above what you are already legally entitled to under consumer law.